The Storm
by therentyoupay
Summary: ONE-SHOT. We are a lot like this storm, Zuko thought, stepping in closer to her. Zutara.


**Author's Notes: **This could probably be considered a companion fic to my other story, _Remains_. They're perfectly fine if you read them separately however, considering I wrote both of them without thinking of the other. xD I also imagine all of this taking place during season two, although really, it'd work in either season, I believe.

&

_We're a lot like the storm_, was the passing thought that briefly flickered through Zuko's mind as he reached to remove a wet strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. She did nothing to stop him as his fingers brushed her skin. She was cold, he noticed, but then again, what wasn't cold in the middle of a raging thunder storm? Even he was shivering slightly, which was undoubtedly unusual.

"You know we can't," he whispered. His tone was fierce, but his voice was soft and his eyes had lost their spark. The rain dripped off the ends of his hair to fall onto his face and shoulders, which only deepened the chill coursing through his body, but somehow that didn't seem important.

Still, Katara said nothing and Zuko felt himself grow angry at her silence, that she didn't bother to say anything to him – didn't he deserve some sort of reply? After all that they'd been through, didn't that merit a _response_?

He turned away, shutting his eyes and breathing in the cold air. Water crept into his mouth and down his back, but he was positive that he couldn't possibly get any colder. Suddenly, Zuko was inexplicably afraid to know why Katara refrained from speaking. He quickly turned back to her with questioning eyes – eyes that no longer blazed in the darkness – and realized that her tears were answer enough.

He carefully raised a hand to touch them. The hand wasn't unsure in its action (they had both left uncertainty and trepidation behind long, long ago), but it was slow and lingering, as if Zuko was trying to savor the very memory of being able to wipe away her tears at all. The salt from her eyes mingled with the droplets that were coming from above and all the while Katara continued to stare and say nothing.

The thunder rolled above them and the sky lit up somewhere far off in the distance. Zuko brought his other hand up to cup her face, as if trying to shield it from the raindrops that continued to pour down on them. At last, Katara's unchanging expression faltered as she turned into his hand, closing her eyes and releasing more tears to mix with the rain. She held his hand tightly, almost painfully, with her own and Zuko was positive that part of him must have died from the look in her eyes; it seemed that his weren't the only ones that had lost some of their fire.

The air cracked around them again and Zuko had the vague notion that they needed to get out of the forest, to find shelter where it wouldn't be so dangerous. But that would mean that if they left now, even if only to find a suitable shelter, they could possibly regain their common sense and decide to end this once and for all, leaving this moment as nothing but a broken memory. It was hard to hear the thunder over the sound of his blood rushing in his ears, but when he did, he couldn't help but notice how similar the two seemed to sound.

_We are a lot like this storm_, Zuko thought, stepping in closer to her. _The sound of our hearts beating is like the thunder_. Her hair, loosened and free of its braid and now completely soaked from the downpour, had fallen into her face again, but neither of them seemed to care. _Rain most always accompanies thunder_. He slowly brushed her cheek with his thumb. _As do her tears_.

She looked at him for a moment before placing one of her hands on his shoulder, her eyes flickering with something that he recognized from long ago, before there was a time when all they could feel was hopelessness. Lightening flashed in the background, but it was nothing compared to the glint in her eyes… a tiny glimmer of hope that he thought had been destroyed long ago, the presence of a mutual wish for something that both of them knew could never be granted, a realization that for the moment, they just didn't _care_. For the moment, they had nothing to worry about.

Before either of them had time to reconsider – though at this point, thinking was beyond them – their lips met in a crash of need and rain, her tears still mingling with the drops from the sky. The taste of salt in his mouth served as a reminder as to she had cried at all and he held her tighter against him, delving deeper into her mouth as if trying to erase the very thought. Her fingers were still cold, but felt like fire against his skin compared to the rain. The rumbling of the thunder vaguely reminded him of vibrations reverberating through his chest and he suddenly understood why they were so similar to the storm.

They pulled back, finally, gasping for breath and still clasping on to one another tightly, as if afraid to let them go. He closed his eyes as they leaned in again, only their foreheads and noses touching as the thunder cracked above them again. He squeezed her hand firmly, to which she reciprocated.

He realized that, like their kiss, all storms must eventually come to an end, passing by with only a few shreds of evidence to prove that they existed at all. And even those disappeared in time.

She moved closer, clutching the cloth of his tattered Earth peasant attire and shielding herself from the wind. Zuko returned the embrace immediately, smoothing her drenched hair with an equally wet hand and shutting his eyes against the rain. Maybe he was trying not to see something else as well, but he didn't want to think about what it could be.

"I know," he felt her lips move against his neck. He kissed her temple, pausing only to see if he could still make out her scent after the seemingly endless rain and was relieved to know the he could. He kissed her again, on her forehead, before moving his hand to cup her chin. Zuko opened his eyes to see her looking up at him. It seemed that no matter how many times he had looked into those eyes, he was always genuinely shocked at how clear they were when he saw them.

They leaned in again, but there was no semblance of fiery passion between them this time. There was only desperation in slow, careful movements. It seemed that they were mourning the loss of one another before they'd even parted.

The lightening continued streak the sky with flashes of light and the thunder showed no intention of giving up anytime in the near future. Something told Zuko that there wouldn't be enough daylight at the end of this storm for a rainbow… _but then again_, he thought, taking another kiss from the girl in front of him with a sad smile, _our story probably wasn't meant to have a happy ending_.


End file.
